Sail Shadows in the Sea of ​​Fog

Chapter 157 is about repentance, I guess.

In an underground tunnel illuminated by dim yellow light, a burrowing beetle is moving forward swiftly and quietly.

With each step, the metal beetle's limbs on both sides accurately landed on the anti-slip grooves in the ground.

Perhaps that's why, even though it moved incredibly fast, the miner's lamp that Yun Lan had hung outside the window didn't even sway.

"Ladies and gentlemen, there is something I must remind you of."

"After I installed the headlamps on the power interface, this burrowing beetle is no longer under my control," said Yun Lan, who was sitting in the driver's seat.

"So who is controlling him?" Yun Ji asked.

"The spirits in the miner's lamp, perhaps."

Yun Lan guessed, "The ancient dwarves are very good at using the undead. After all, they are probably the most suitable unique life forms for working in underground caves. But whether it was the ancient dwarves who tricked them into signing the souls of the three family members to the miner's lamp in advance, or whether it was their own choice, I don't know."

"So we can't even stop now?" Shenba asked, slightly fearful.

"Unless this digging beetle is dismantled."

After Yun Lan finished speaking, she pointed to the three miners' lamps that were only partially visible, "I just tried to pull them out, and they can't be pulled out at all."

Seeing everyone looking at him, Cheng Lang put away the malfunctioning compass and said, "Let's wait a bit. It can't keep leading us all the way back to Frostflower Harbor."

After he said that, the others inexplicably felt at ease.

Soon, the tunnel came to an end, and the digging beetle came to a smooth stop, unfolding its thick, metallic elytra.

There is a fork in the road that seems ready to break open at any moment and lead back to the surface. Besides that, there is a corpse here, the corpse of an elf.

His body was slightly plump, and he lay casually in the corner. The only visible fatal wound was in his waist and abdomen, but his body was strangely not decomposed.

I know him.

Kruker, who came along, whispered, "He is Viscount Shenfei. My father took me and we ran away because he was killed. Back then, there were bounties for him everywhere."

"How many gold coins can he exchange for?" Shenba couldn't help but ask.

“I can trade it for a single Emerald Fruit,” Kruk replied.

Seeing Cheng Lang looking over, Yun Ji, who was already used to it, explained, "The fruits of the Verdant Sacred Tree are very rare, and generally only nobles can use them."

Legend has it that after gaining the approval of the sacred tree, eating one of its fruits gives one a chance to acquire a talent bestowed by the tree.

“The effect is similar to becoming a captain,” Yun Lan explained, “but there are very few Green Fruits, and they taste terrible.”

"You've eaten it?" Shenba asked, his eyes wide.

"I've eaten it"

Yun Lan said regretfully, "That stuff is only effective the first time you take it, but the taste is very unacceptable, like eating very fatty raw meat."

Seemingly knowing what Shenba, Yafusuo, and even Cheng Lang were about to ask, Yunlan promptly added, "But it won't work on me, since I'm not exactly a pure elf."

At this point, Yun Lan had already walked to the corpse. "Compared to the Azure Fruit, I think there might be some undiscovered treasure on this corpse. Captain, may I look for it?"

"Please do as you please," Cheng Lang said nonchalantly.

Before he finished speaking, a large number of thorns and spikes grew around the corpse, prying open the clothes on the body that had obviously been turned inside out.

Without any psychological pressure, she stripped the corpse naked, then used the thorns growing from the ground to prop it up. After examining it for a while, a long and sharp thorn also grew in her hand.

Holding the thorny rapier, Yun Lan poked and prodded at the corpse, then finally gently flicked it, prying off an inconspicuous black earring from the pointed ear of the almost naked body.

Almost the instant the earring was detached from the body, Viscount Shenfei's corpse began to decompose at a visible speed, and a strong stench filled the air.

"Whatever this earring is, I think we should leave here as soon as possible." Yun Lan, who had already learned to use chopsticks, used two long thorns to hold the earring, and also took out her veil to cover her mouth and nose.

"How do we take this burrowing beetle with us?" Cheng Lang asked, covering his nose; the smell was too strong.

"Come inside with me, all of you."

Before Yun Lan could finish speaking, the little sailor Krubb, who had come with her, was the first to run into the Gold-Digging Beetle's belly. There was no way around it; the powerful sense of smell bestowed upon him by the werewolf orcs was practically a nightmare at this moment.

Soon, Yun Lan manipulated the burrowing beetle to crawl out along the fork in the road that seemed to lead outside.

As the cross-shaped horn spun rapidly, the previously blocked fork in the road reopened, and they saw the starlight outside.

Although she couldn't tell where she was, Yun Lan, prompted by Yun Ji, drove the tunneling beetle backwards for about a hundred meters and began releasing the grayish foam along the way to completely seal off the tunnel.

After maneuvering the digging beetle back to the surface and completely sealing off the tunnel behind it, Yun Lan searched among the many control levers in front of her and finally pulled out a golden chain that looked like a necklace.

After gesturing for everyone to get off the car, Yun Lan tossed the chain forward. The burrowing beetle crawled toward the necklace and eventually transformed into a golden firefly, no bigger than half a little finger, with a small crystal ball at the end of its abdomen. It then bit the necklace tightly.

Bending down to pick up the necklace, Yun Lan glanced at it before handing it to Cheng Lang, saying, "Many people can recognize this as a burrowing beetle, so you'd better hide it well."

“I thought you would be interested,” Cheng Lang said as he took the necklace.

“If I were still Princess Bakla, I would have used every means to get that necklace, but now I am Captain Yunlan, who has signed a contract with you.”

After saying that, the expired princess waved away the thorny dagger in her hand and changed the subject, "So where are we?"

"That looks like Wolfskin Town."

Krub pointed to the direction where there were faint lights in the distance and said, "I can smell the barbecue coming from that direction, exactly the same smell I've been smelling since we left the road."

It's dark now.

Cheng Lang looked up at the starry sky. "Let's find a place to camp and rest. After dawn, Krubb, you'll have to go to Wolfskin Town alone to find Gerta and the others."

“I’m sure I can find them!” Krubb immediately assured him.

After making arrangements, the group walked a distance away and found a high enough spot halfway up the mountain. They then set up a hunting tent behind a tall pine tree.

While Yafso and Shenba were preparing dinner with the two little sailors, Cheng Lang, Yun Ji, and Yun Lan also focused their attention on the black earring.

"Is there anything special about this earring?" Cheng Lang made no attempt to hide his ignorance. With the Magic Mirror not around, he had no way of recognizing the earring.

“I don’t recognize him either,” Yun Lan added.

I don't recognize it either.

Yun Ji shook her head. "But it carries an extremely strong aura of the ancient sacred tree." "I find it somewhat disgusting."

As Yun Lan spoke, she pushed the small earring to Cheng Lang as well, "Besides, I've had enough of the benefits of an incorruptible body. If I have to die, I'd rather die quickly."

I don't have the habit of wearing jewelry.

When Yun Ji saw Cheng Lang looking over, she immediately refused by lying through her teeth, saying that she also did not want to wear jewelry taken from a corpse.

"I don't have the habit of wearing jewelry."

Despite his words, Cheng Lang still put the earring and the bottle he always carried in the same leather pocket.

"I wonder what happened here back then," Yun Ji sighed with regret.

“At least no one has discovered the beetle,” Yun Lan comforted. “If someone had been hiding in that tunnel, and if they have already been caught, then this place would definitely have been discovered.”

"makes sense"

Cheng Lang fiddled with the firefly necklace that was already hanging around his neck. "The dwarves' technology is so advanced, they should have ruled the Star Sea Continent long ago. How could they have disappeared?"

"If it weren't for the sea god, the dwarves would probably have ruled the Starsea Continent long ago, just as you said."

Yun Lan said, "In the royal documents I have come across, the technology that the dwarves possessed was far more terrifying than what we see now."

Things like the digging beetle, which are sought after by the major duchies, are just their most common tools.

Legend has it that the ancient dwarves built sailing ships that could not only sail on the sea, but their ships could even fly in the sky.

"I've seen similar documents in Pirate City."

Yun Ji shook her head and sighed, "At the time, I thought it was just some drunken pirate making things up."

"That's even stranger."

Cheng Lang was even more puzzled. "If that's the case, then they shouldn't have done it."

"In even older legends"

Yun Lan paused here, "What I mean is, in the ancient legends from the perspective of the sea monsters, the sea god was the warrior they chose to fight against the demons on land. Generation after generation of warriors led the sea monsters to the mainland but never returned until they finally won after paying a huge price."

At this point, Yun Lan sighed, "In the stories of the sirens, the demons on land are not those ferocious beasts that are comparable to the sea monsters, but the once glorious dwarves."

"This is also a royal record."

"This is what Mr. Panini, who was hosting me, told me during a casual chat when I first arrived in Pirate City."

Yun Lan smiled. "Although it was a political meeting, Mr. Panini just treated me like a child, so he told me many stories from the depths of the ocean."

"I'm starting to get curious about the story of the civilization that Ye Di and his people lived in."

Cheng Lang said, "Perhaps their stories also include dwarfs."

"Will not"

Yun Lan said, "They existed much earlier, before the dwarves. Even Panini probably doesn't know much about their era."

What exactly happened to this strange world?
Why do civilizations here evolve so frequently?

Cheng Lang, still fiddling with the firefly pendant, grew increasingly puzzled.

He was destined not to find the answer that night, but fortunately, Yavso and the others prepared a sumptuous dinner.

Just as they were sitting around the warm fireplace, filling their stomachs with delicious food and fruit wine, Gerta, who had already entered Wolfskin Town, drove a carriage, carrying the purchased dinner and the little sailors, and slowly arrived at the Lake of Tears.

"I knew they weren't here."

Gerta muttered something in a voice only he could hear, then chose a good spot where he would definitely see the sunrise the next morning, set up the tent he had bought from Wolfskin Town, and led the children into the tent.

We don't need to wait.

"Need not"

Before Krugs could finish speaking, Gerta said confidently, "Kids, enjoy the night sky above and the sun tomorrow morning. We're here for a camping vacation."

"Are you so sure they're alright?" Krugki asked, already setting out all the packed food on the table with his brothers.

"certainly"

As Gerta spoke, he opened the beer barrel. "Kids, would you like a drink? When I was your age, I was already peeping at the rabbit-tribe waitresses taking a bath."

"Give me a drink!" one of the young sailors said immediately.

“I think at least one of us should remain vigilant,” Krugsch insisted.

“That’s good then,” another young sailor handed the cup to Gerta.

"Never mind, I'll have one too. I don't like foam, thank you." Krughi immediately gave up his insistence.

That night, the pirates who had come ashore rested fairly well, but many of the elves in Wolfskin Town began to grow various kinds of corpse mushrooms on their bodies.

Fortunately, these poisonous mushrooms did not seem to have the ability to reproduce again, so after all the spores had developed, the number of elves and wolf natives who had started to go crazy in the town finally stopped increasing.

Inevitably, among those unfortunate souls who haven't yet regained their senses, some have already made a decision that "violates ancestral teachings" under the instigation of the poisonous mushroom.

As the vibrant night was finally replaced by light, the corpse mushrooms rapidly decayed, and various screams of despair emanated from the mouths of elves and werewolves. For a time, quite a few people even ran to the Lake of Tears outside the town to offer their sincere repentance and secretly rejoice—after all, trampling on the rules could indeed bring pleasure.

Amidst this slightly joyful chaos, a wolf cub, virtually unremarkable in Wolfskin Town, used his sense of smell to locate his drunken companion.

I knew it.

"Shh-"

Gerta reacted quickly, covering Krug's mouth. "Alright, kids, we've seen enough of the scenery. We should head back to town, buy some things, and then continue our journey."

"So what are they doing?" Krubb asked, looking at the elves and orcs by the lake, puzzled.

"He's repenting, I guess."

Gerta gave a perfunctory reply with great interest, then called on the children to help dismantle the tents. They took a horse-drawn carriage back to Wolfskin Town, and after some shopping, they leisurely walked out of the town.

(End of this chapter)